I have mixed feelings about Sarajevo. We had heard that it was a great city and a lot of fun from people that we met while we were in the Balkans, but we had some negative experiences with ignorant, racist assholes that left a bad impression on us. I usually wouldn’t let a bigot ruin a great experience for me, but it’s not like the city itself had much to offer and it wasn’t just one bigot that we encountered. I’ll talk about the good before the bad.

Historically speaking, Sarajevo is definitely interesting. It’s the site where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated thus sparking World War I. Now, I think that’s pretty darn significant. It also withstood the longest siege in modern history when the Bosnian Serb Army shelled the city for almost four years during the Bosnian War. I only learned about that when we were in the city and took the Tunnel Tour to understand more about the city’s war-torn past. I’m not big into tours, but it was the best way to educate ourselves in a short period of time. If you find yourself in Sarajevo, you should make time to check out the Tunnel Tour. It’s an important part of understanding the hardships that the civilians of the city had to endure during the years long siege. It still blows my mind to think this happened in the 1990’s, but I guess it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise considering what’s still going on today in parts of the world. Ah, my sheltered life.

A Sarajevo Rose that we found on a sidewalk near the Main Park. These are actual sites where at least one civilian was killed by a mortar shell during the war. Red resin was used to fill in the spots sometime after the war.

Bullet-ridden house where the Sarajevo Tunnel is hidden

Evil war stuff

More evil war stuff. That’s a bazooka on the left.

The Sarajevo Tunnel that provided access to the free territory near the Sarajevo Airport while the city was under siege by Serbian forces.